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Monthly Archives: April 2015

We are excited to be hosting two MicroSociety community information sessions on May 5 at 6:30 pm and May 6 at 4:00 pm. These sessions will provide an opportunity to share our vision, to have conversation, answer questions and to get feedback/input from parents and community members. We are hoping that all parents with students at our school will be able to attend one of these two dates.

To help us with our preparation for these two nights, please RSVP by visiting bit.ly/pvsmicrosociety or completing the form below.

MicroSociety replicates Canadian Society. Every student actively participates in MicroSociety in authentic, meaningful ways. This is accomplished as each student takes a role in our society through elected government, government services (police, postal, employment office, etc.), private enterprise or non-governmental organizations.

The purpose of providing students with MicroSociety learning experiences is to ensure student driven, engaging, and authentic, personalized learning opportunities for all students. This approach to learning will continue to build an entrepreneurial spirit, ethical citizenship, leadership skills and engaged thinking in our students. Ultimately, MicroSociety will expose our students to greater opportunities for their future while building resiliency, a confidence in themselves to pursue their dreams and to become positive contributing members of society.

We appreciate that many of our stakeholders have questions regarding the impact of the recently announced 2015 Provincial Budget on Parkland School’s Division’s operations. Without having time to analyze the budget, we can say that we are in a difficult situation and we will face significant challenges. The announced budget will hurt school jurisdictions experiencing growth the most and that includes Parkland School Division.

Parents and students need to know that the ripple down effect of this budget will be felt in our classrooms.

The Division will be challenged but will strive to reach our own high expectations when it comes to delivering on the Division’s Ultimate Goal of Student Success & Well-being for all students.

Costs will increase every year while at the same time, funding will not keep pace with growing enrolment.

Parkland School Division welcomed 274 new students to the system in 2014-15 and long-term Strategic Planning and Capital planning points to growth trends continuing.

With no growth funded, this is a significant change from the past and a significant concern for Parkland School Division as an area experiencing such high growth.

We’re anticipating approximately 400 new students in 2015-16 alone.

We will operate with less than our 2014-15 level of resources by approximately $2 million dollars.

We will follow Alberta Government’s direction and will not be reducing classroom teachers but all these new students we’re expecting in the very near future will need teachers and support staff too.

The new budget will increase our class sizes and reduce other supports that Parkland School Division students currently access.

Our Division priority ‘Stewardship of Resources’ will be a focus. We will engage our staff, students and community to find our way forward despite these new challenges and are committed to an education system that’s proven to be one of the best in the country and worldwide.

Key Take-Aways

PSD will receive close to $866,000 in revenue to assist with the costs associated with the previously negotiated contractual obligations for teacher salaries and benefits. That includes a $1.23 million in a 2% salary increase as well as a 1% lump sum payment of approximately $555,000. This creates a $919,000 shortfall.

In 2014-15, PSD accessed close to $1 million dollars from its Operating Reserves. This funding will not be available moving forward as Ministerial approval is required to access accumulated operating reserves. The government has provided the direction that using reserves should be viewed as a transition measure to bridge to a new financial/cost structure.

We will not be receiving funding for projected enrolment growth of approximately 400 students. This could equate to approximately a $2 million dollar shortfall of incoming revenue required to cover growing costs of educational delivery.